


Raised By Witches

by malinaldarose (coralysendria)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Community: trope_bingo, Fate, Gen, Mother-Son Relationship, Time Travel, Trope Bingo Amnesty, Witches, Wyrd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-06 22:22:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19071862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coralysendria/pseuds/malinaldarose
Summary: Frigga was raised by witches.  Frigga sees what is really there.Oblique spoilers for Avengers:  Endgame and, I suppose, Thor:  The Dark World.





	Raised By Witches

**Author's Note:**

> This fills the Time Travel square on my Trope Bingo Round 10 card and is posted for Round Twelve which is an Amnesty Round.

Unlike her younger son, brilliant, mercurial, damaged Loki, Frigga does not often display her magics. And so all of Asgard -- including her elder son and the All-Father himself -- tends to forget that not only was she raised by witches, she was trained by them as well. Thus it is that she can always see through Loki's tricks, and thus it is that when she finds Thor skulking around the palace, hiding behind pillars, she sees immediately that this is not her son as she knows him -- neither the arrogant prince from before his exile, nor the chastened warrior of after, nor yet the Midgardian Avenger. This Thor is as damaged as his brother, and just as much in need of his mother's healing touch.

Frigga's heart breaks at the tale Thor relates of what will come at the Titan Thanos' hand. And while Thor also tries to tell her of how this day will end, she does not allow him to speak of it. She was raised by witches. She knows that her wyrd draws nigh -- and that is enough. Nothing will be accomplished by trying to avoid or change it. Wyrd must be served, whether by high or by low, and not even a queen may evade her fate.

But this...time heist...of which he speaks! Frigga is endlessly surprised at the cleverness of Midgardians. It is a desperate plan, but from the tale she has been told, desperation is all that the universe has left. Even now, elsewhere in the palace, Thor's companion attempts to extract the Aether from Jane Foster. Frigga does not tell Thor that the timeline branching out from that act would see her surviving the day and the dark elves driven away. Such knowledge would serve only to weaken his resolve.

She wishes she could help -- more than she already is, for clearly Thor needed to speak with her once more. Well. Was she not raised by witches? Is she not a witch herself? Even as she counsels Thor, Frigga divides her attention, using one of Loki's favorite tricks -- one which she taught him. To the room where Jane Foster currently wanders restlessly, she sends a splinter of herself, there to cast a small charm that catches the Midgardian woman between one moment and the next -- the pause that the small furry one requires to extract the Aether and run with the collection vessel.

Another splinter of herself suddenly appears in the gate chamber where Heimdall stands his lonely vigil. "Guardian," she says.

"How may I serve, my queen?" 

"Look within my chambers, Heimdall. Tell me what you see."

Heimdall's eyes burn amber. "Your son, my queen," he replies. Then he frowns. Cocks his head slightly. "And yet another Thor is even now going to escort Jane Foster to the gardens."

"Your eyes are as keen as ever," Frigga says. "Listen now...." And she relates to him all that Thor has told her, saving only those things that are not meant for sharing...and those things that touch on what even now draws near to Asgard's shores; the preservation of this timeline demands her silence. 

"And what would you have me do, my queen?" Heimdall rumbles when she has finished.

"Stay vigilant, as always, of course," Frigga responds. "But whichever of Thor's companions are selected to return the Infinity Stones to their places may have need of the Bifrost. You have my permission -- my command, even -- to send it to their aid."

Heimdall's gaze sweeps across the starry vista before him. "There is one, even now," he says, and turning the great sword on which his hands rest, he opens the Bifrost.

Frigga has no way of knowing which of Thor's companions will be chosen to return the Stones. She is hopeful that it will not be Thor himself, as a third Thor wandering about the palace would be a needless complication with the potential to send this enterprise sailing straight into farce. But the man stumbling slightly as the Bifrost deposits him in the gate chamber bears a ringed shield with a star in its center. He cannot have been expecting the Bifrost, yet he centers himself almost immediately and raises the shield...and, surprisingly, Mjölnir.

"Welcome to Asgard, Captain Rogers," Heimdall declaims.

The man's eyes widen and both shield and weapon are lowered. His eyes dart toward Frigga, who graces him with a warm smile. 

"Welcome, Captain. I am Frigga, Queen of Asgard. I regret that we may not honor your visit to our realm with a proper feast, but I know that your stay must understandably be quite brief."

"Yes, ma'am," the Captain says. "I only have time to return a couple of items that we had to borrow."

She smiles again at his circumspection. "My son Thor has much less practice at stealth than his brother, Captain, and is, therefore, quite bad at it. He was discovered in the palace, and so I am aware of your quest. I am here to offer you Asgard's aid. I have commanded Heimdall to open the Bifrost to you when you have need of it."

Captain Rogers frowns. "Did Thor get the Aether?"

"His companion brings it to him even as we speak. And I sense that you, also, carry the Aether." She tilts her head with a thoughtful frown, realizing that the doubled presence of the Aether, even for these few moments, will reverberate in Svartalfheim. Ah, well. It cannot be helped. Wyrd, again.

In her chambers, Frigga smiles at the sight of her son with his hand outstretched, reaching for...

...in the gate chamber Mjölnir tugs free from the Captain's hand and flies for the palace.

"Wha--?" the Captain reaches for it, belatedly. 

"Fear not, Captain. It has been summoned by its owner," Frigga says. "Come. I will escort you to the palace so that you may complete this stage of your quest. You will be better able, I think, to avoid the questions of the Einherjar if I am with you."

"Yes, Ma'am," the Captain says, and, slinging the shield onto his back, gallantly offers her his arm.

The splinter of herself that was in Jane Foster's chamber now walks a roundabout route to the gardens, there to be introduced to her son's lady. Her true self remains in her own chambers with the future Thor; a small smile crosses her face when Mjölnir smacks into his hand and he laughs in relief, proclaiming himself still worthy.

"You were always worthy, my son," she whispers. "You had only to learn what true worthiness means." She watches as he and the small one vanish into time, taking hammer and Infinity Stone with them.

She is a witch. Raised by witches. Her magics have been passed on; her sons are grown, and while they may still have need of her, even the longest-lived beings must eventually go on without their parents' guidance. Her wyrd is upon her, but these exchanges, too, she senses, were part of her wyrd, and so she is content with wherever the rest of this day takes her.


End file.
